Chance Encounter

After night fell, the figure of the Red Dragon appeared once more in the sky above the royal capital.

Its massive wings swept through the night sky, its dark red scales gleaming faintly under the moonlight. Venus sat on the dragon's back, looking down at the streets below.

Over the past few days, she had visited all of the crime scenes, but neither the kingdom nor the empire had been able to find any truly useful clues.

It was as if those attackers had never existed.

They struck quickly and vanished even faster, disappearing every single time before reinforcements could arrive, leaving behind almost no traceable tracks.

This annoyed her greatly.

Extremely so.

The Red Dragon circled over the Inner City again and again. Below, squads of patrolling soldiers held magic lamps as they slowly advanced along the streets, with checkpoints established at nearly every intersection.

Pedestrians were scarce, and the occasional carriage that passed by was stopped and repeatedly inspected.

The royal capital remained as prosperous as ever, but this prosperity felt more like a carefully woven illusion right now.

Venus rested her chin in one hand while gently patting the Red Dragon's neck with the other.

The Red Dragon let out a low growl, seemingly sensing its master's low spirits.

“It's fine,” Venus murmured.

She replied casually, but the irritation in her heart did not subside in the slightest.

On the surface, the kingdom had indeed done its best—she could not deny that—but doing one's best was no excuse. The attacks were still not being effectively suppressed.

Those around her were constantly dying.

Venus hated this feeling of losing control.

The enemy was constantly wearing down her patience with this disgusting method.

If those bastards only dared to step out, she could easily crush them head-on.

But they simply couldn't be caught. Venus looked up at the distant palace, suddenly remembering what Hogg had said in his office earlier that day.

His suspicion was not without merit—those attackers did indeed possess too much information on their movements.

With these words coming from Hogg, no one dared to flatly deny them and guarantee with absolute certainty that there was no issue on the empire's side.

But even if it was just a reasonable suspicion, it still made her incredibly unhappy.

The Red Dragon flew over the embassy. The interior was brightly lit, and the security was even tighter than that of the palace.

Even so, it could not truly guarantee everyone's safety.

With all these factors weighing on her, she suddenly felt like finding a quiet place to have a nice drink.

But alcohol was out—she had drunk quite a bit over the past few days, and it had done nothing but make her more irritated.

At that thought, a Collins glass filled with ice cubes involuntarily floated into Venus's mind.

Pale honey-colored milk tea, with fine beads of condensation coating the glass, cool and smooth upon entry, with just the right amount of sweetness.

After a moment of reflection, she couldn't help but recall what had happened in that teahouse before.

And that young man who had 'invited' her out of his shop. Ever since she was kicked out last time, she hadn't been able to return.

Normally, with her personality, even if just to save face, she should have walked right in during business hours, sat at the bar counter, and demanded he make her ten cups of milk tea.

If possible, it wasn't out of the question to challenge him to a duel.

But the successive attacks had disrupted all her plans. Yet, it was undeniable that the young man's own strength was a highly troublesome issue.

For someone to clash head-on with her, a Heroic Spirit rank powerhouse, without being disadvantaged, it was impossible for him to just be an obscure teahouse owner in the royal capital.

At this, a bold hypothesis suddenly surfaced, instantly causing her gradually calming emotions to fluctuate once more, and the more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Combining his footwork, speed, mana concealment, and decisiveness... everything perfectly matched the characteristics of the group that had attacked the imperial delegation before.

Venus narrowed her eyes, looking down at the Twenty-First District directly below, and muttered to herself,

“Could it really... be him?”

Speculation alone wouldn't yield a definite answer; it was better to verify it in person. Thus, without any further hesitation, she leapt straight down from the Red Dragon's back, swiftly closing in on the small shop in her memory.

The streets were still quiet, though there were now several more patrol squads.

However, this did not affect the teahouse's normal business. In fact, because the patrol squads contained quite a few noble children, some curious fellows would occasionally drop by during shift changes to order a cup of hot tea.

Although most of them winced when paying the bill, they still paid up honestly in the end.

Miraculously, the teahouse's revenue had actually seen a slight increase.

Venus stood before the entrance, looking at this ordinary teahouse. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.

Just like her first visit, the moment the bronze bell chimed, a voice rang out from inside the shop.

“Welcome—what are you doing here?”

Behind the bar counter, Li Yuan was reading a book. Upon seeing who had entered, most of the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a look of sheer annoyance.

After all, bratty kids were rarely welcome anywhere.

Sensing his strong rejection the moment she stepped in, Venus knit her brows, her expression turning slightly sour. However, she didn't stop, walking straight to the bar counter. Glaring at the young man as if in defiance, she said loudly,

“Give me ten cups of milk tea.”

With that, she generously slapped a bag of fifty gold coins onto the counter and pushed it toward Li Yuan.

Li Yuan looked at the gold coins pushed in front of him... Honestly, he really didn't want to do this business.

But it was currently normal business hours, and she hadn't done anything out of line yet. Refusing a customer without any reason... was not his style.

After a moment of thought, he nodded.

“Please wait a moment. Ten cups of milk tea will take some time.”

“That's fine. Serve them as you make them; you don't have to bring them all out at once.”

Li Yuan turned around to start preparing the milk tea. It was only then that Venus noticed she wasn't the only customer in the teahouse—there was another customer sitting by the window, peering in their direction.

Setis Anna—Venus quickly recalled her name. When she first arrived in the kingdom, this girl had been part of the welcoming delegation, the youngest daughter of Duke Sebas's family.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Setis spoke first.

“Lady Sage, h-hello. I am—”

“I know your name, Miss Setis Anna. Hello to you too.”

After a brief greeting, Setis's eyes were filled with curiosity—as were Venus's.

It was as if both were wondering why the other would appear here at this hour. After a moment of thought, Venus walked straight to Setis's table and sat down directly opposite her.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

“U-Uh, of course. Please, help yourself.”

Setis was somewhat constrained, gathering the books spread across the table to clear as much space as possible for Venus.

Seeing her nervous state, Venus smiled gently and said in a relaxed tone,

“No need to be so formal. This isn't an official occasion, so relax.”

“Alright, Lady Sage...”

She said so, but how could Setis actually manage it? This was a legendary figure on par with Royal Preceptor Hogg, and she was so young and beautiful, practically the lifelong aspiration of every female professional.

But alongside her nervousness, she felt even more curiosity and confusion. Her mind was filled with all sorts of questions—

One question after another popped up in her head like this, seemingly without end.

On the other hand, Venus's thoughts were much simpler—the Allen siblings had mentioned before that Setis had contact with the person the empire was looking for. Should she take this opportunity to probe her a little?

If all went well, she might be able to find some clues...

While both were lost in their own thoughts, Li Yuan came over to the table carrying two cups of milk tea.

“Your milk tea. Enjoy.”

He first placed one of the cups in front of Venus, then turned to the other side to hand the remaining cup to Setis, smiling as he did so.

“This is tonight's complimentary gift, and also a new item in our shop—milk tea. I figured you'd like it. The default is 70% sugar, with ice.”

“Thank you!”

Upon receiving the milk tea from Li Yuan, all the strange questions in Setis's mind vanished in an instant.

She happily held the Collins glass with both hands, filled with joy—Li Yuan had even thoughtfully provided her with a straw.

Looking at this top-tier service and comparing it to her own, Venus's eyelid twitched involuntarily...

Was it really necessary to make the double standard so obvious?!